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So Long, Scobee: Queens Diner's Demise Shocks Locals
By
Dan Myers
Published Nov 29, 2010
Modified Nov 29, 2010
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By
Dan Myers
Published Nov 29, 2010
Modified Nov 29, 2010
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Looking for a late-night pizza burger, Greek salad, or milkshake in Little Neck, Queens? For the past 50-odd years the go-to spot was the Scobee Diner. Not any more, though: the 24-hour hangout, best known for its massive menu, great breakfasts and unapologetic greasy-spoon fare, closed its doors for good yesterday after a tearful farewell. In a million years you'll never guess why they closed!
The reason? A rent hike, of course: the landlord unexpectedly increased it from $1,500 to $10,000/month, according to owner Sal Winder, who lamented the closing. "This is what makes me sick, everybody comes over, hugs me, kisses me and wishes me the best of luck," he told NY1. Regulars were just as upset. "It's a sad day for the diner culture in Queens," longtime customer Erica Manney told Little Neck Patch.
Oddly enough, in the 1950s the restaurant (then called the Twentieth Century Diner) was owned by the Tenet family, who put their son George to work there. He later went on to serve as Bill Clinton's CIA director, and was ultimately awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for saving America from Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
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